e such things and that I would very much like to see for
myself. He replied: "You will only want to see it once; that will be
sufficient."

Things went along in the usual way until the first day of the eleventh
moon, when Her Majesty issued orders to the Court that as the eleventh
moon contained so many anniversaries of the deaths of previous rulers
of China, the usual theatrical performance would be eliminated and the
Court dress would in addition be modified to suit the occasion. On the
ninth day the Emperor was to go and worship at the Temple of Heaven. So,
as was customary on all these occasions, he confined himself to his own
private apartments for three days before the ninth, during which time
he held no communication whatsoever with anybody excepting his private
eunuchs. Not even the Young Empress, his wife, was allowed to see him
during these three days.

This ceremony did not differ very materially from the other sacrifices,
except that pigs were killed and placed on the numerous altars of
the Temple, where they remained for a time, after which they were
distributed among the different officials. The eating of the flesh of
these pigs, which had been blessed, was believed to bring good luck and
prosperity, and the officials who were presented with them considered
themselves greatly favored by Her Majesty. Another difference was that
the Emperor could not appoint a substitute to officiate for him; but
must attend in person, no matter what the circumstances might be. The
reason for this was, that according to the ancient law, the Emperor
signs the death warrant of every person sentenced to death, record of
which is kept in the Board of Punishments. At the end of the year the
name of each person executed is written on a piece of yellow paper and
sent to the Emperor. When the time for worshiping at the Temple arrives,
he takes this yellow paper and burns it in order that the ashes may
go up to Heaven and his ancestors know that he has been fearless and
faithful, and has done his duty according to the law.

As this ceremony of worshiping at the Temple of Heaven was to take place
in the Forbidden City, in spite of Her Majesty's dislike to the place,
she commanded that the whole of the Court be transferred there,
her reason for this being that she did not wish to be away from the
Emperor's side even for an hour. So we all moved to the Palace in the
Forbidden City. After the ceremony was over, the Court was to return